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Minus Eighteen
Minus Eighteen, also known as –18, and often stylized as minus.eighteen, is an American rock band active since 2004, currently consisting of lead vocalist/guitarist Sean Fullerway and drummer Ryan Deckerman. They achieved mainstream success in 2005 with the release of minus.eighteen, which was eventually certified 4x Platinum in the United States. Their popularity increased with subsequent releases. For the first few years of its history, Minus Eighteen performed as a three-piece band, with bassist Chris Rivert from 2004–2005 and Nonsense musician Brent Villeton briefly in 2006. Afterwards, Fullerway and Deckerman, the other two members of Minus Eighteen, along with their acknowledgement of firing Villeton, stated in late 2006 that they "would operate as a two-piece band, somewhat of a duo, for now", and have, ever since then, written, recorded, and performed as such. To date, Minus Eighteen has sold around 12 million albums in the US and around 35 million albums worldwide. History 2003–04: Beginnings In late 2003, at the age of fourteen, Sean Fullerway, who had recently left a local band, moved from Miami, FL to Los Angeles, CA and met Ryan Deckerman at FFLQDF High School, who was already friends with bassist Chris Rivert and had been considering starting a band. Due to common musical interests, Deckerman and Rivert befriended and jammed with Fullerway for, often, hours a day, for several months, and by February 2004, they said they'd "officially decided to be a band". They subsequently began to perform locally under the name "Minus Eighteen". 2004–06: minus.eighteen & Chris Rivert's departure By the time school let out in May 2004, Minus Eighteen had attracted a relatively large fan base, particularly through performing and self-advertising online. Over the summer, while steadily/quickly growing in popularity, the band decided to write material for an album, and subsequently decided to search for a record label signing. By July 2004, they signed with HFG Records, after getting rejected by several other labels over the preceding few months. The album was produced/recorded from July–September; it turned out to be a more appealing version of the songs Minus Eighteen covered during the first half of the year, reviewers later deeming it "hip hop-tinged pop punk accompanied by more depressing, cleaned-up tracks". The first single was released September 30, 2004, titled "Didn't Think It Through". Though it was a sleeper hit, the song eventually peaked at #3 on the U.S. Hot Modern Rock Tracks and #88 on the Billboard Hot 100. A follow up single was released in December 2004, titled "Hungover", with an announcement for the album's release date, May 2005. "Hungover" was not as successful as its predecessor, only managing #37 on the U.S. Hot Modern Rock Tracks and missing the Hot 100 completely. A third single was released in March 2005, "Of Course", in order to present a more "serious side" of the album. The song was a huge hit, debuting at #95 on the Billboard Hot 100 in April and peaking at #27 by June 2005, selling over 500,000 copies across the United States and helping Minus Eighteen's album, minus.eighteen, released May 2, 2005, peak at #8 on the Billboard 200 and go on to be certified 4x Platinum by the RIAA, and eventually was considered a classic in modern rock music. A fourth single from the album, "All Nighter", was released in July 2005, and peaked at #55 on the Billboard Hot 100, which was considered another hit for them. A fifth single, "Who Cares", was released to rock and mainstream radio in October 2005, though it was ultimately unsuccessful chart-wise. The sixth and final single, "Moving On", released in February 2006, was another mainstream hit for them, peaking at #33 on the Hot 100 (though it took until the summer of '06 for it to peak at #33) as they bordered mainstream popularity with the result of a nationwide tour across the US from 2005–06. About halfway through touring, in October 2005, bassist Rivert announced he would be leaving the band after the first leg was over in December, stating, "I never really thought this would go anywhere, and after not seeing my friends or family for the passed few months, I'm starting to wish I'd never dropped out of school to go touring. I just don't feel like being in a band is right for me right now." Sure enough, on December 13, 2005, he played his last show with Minus Eighteen, and other two members, Deckerman and Fullerway, responded, "We thought about disbanding, but we ultimately decided we should go on....we haven't started auditioning for a new bassist yet." 2006–07: EP & band problems As a duo, Minus Eighteen finished up touring in July 2006 after about a year of extensive touring the US that ended up including parts of Canada. They auditioned for a bassist over the summer of 2006, and eventually decided on lead singer/bassist of Nonsense, Brent Villeton. Though it was unknown at the time, Minus Eighteen recorded an EP from July-September 2006 with Villeton and announced the release of the sarcastically titled EP to be released in November or December 2006. The first single was released September 16, 2006 titled "Oh, Cry Me One", referencing the popular phrase cry me a river; the single peaked at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100, which became their most successful single until "Fucking Awesome" was released in 2008. "Oh, Cry Me One" featured vocals by Villeton, who sang the second and third verses. EP was released November 20, 2006 and debuted on the Billboard 200 at #4, eventually certifying 2x Platinum by the RIAA. A second and final single, titled "The Show", was released December 22, 2006, and missed the charts completely. This song was very controversial, in that since there was no percussion and instead featured only an electronically added acoustic guitar and Villeton's vocals, Fullerway and Deckerman both had no involvement in the production/recording of the song. On December 29, 2006, one week after "The Show" was released as a single, the two of them confronted Villeton about the song's release as a single, and he reacted negatively, claiming they were being selfish. Villeton was fired from the band later that day, with Fullerway stating, "I think we'll be okay as a duo for now, at least." Minus Eighteen did a mini-tour for EP that lasted about three months, from December 2006-March 2007. 2007–10: Sophomore Release & Another EP In April 2007, as a duo again, they released a YouTube video stating they were entering the studio and beginning to record their album, and also announcing it would be a more "experimental" release than minus.eighteen, stating their newer music had more hip hop influence than previously. Due to it being a more careful production, the recording process lasted until August 2007, and scheduling for the album's release ensued, and the lead single, "Last Night", was released in November 2007. The song was a big hit for them, peaking at #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 and certifying Platinum in the US. The second single from the album, "Rock 'n' Roll", was released April 18, 2008, and debuted at #47 on the Billboard Hot 100, and peaked at #44 a few weeks later, certifying Gold by the RIAA. The album, sarcastically titled Sophomore Release was released a few months later on July 15, 2008, and debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200, eventually certifying 5x Platinum in accordance with the RIAA. A third single, "Fucking Awesome", known on the radio versions as "Awesome", was released on a few weeks after the album, on July 30, 2008. It was their most successful song at the time, peaking at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks and certifying 4x Platinum by the RIAA. A fourth and final single, "Luxury", was released in December 2008 and peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100, certifying 3x Platinum. Minus Eighteen announced in July 2009 another EP planned for a Christmas release, and the EP was written/recorded in the fall of '09. The first single, "STFU", was released October 29, 2009; it was a moderate hit, peaking at #20 on the Billboard Hot 100. The EP, with the sarcastic title Another EP, was released on December 21, 2009, and debuted at #5 on the Billboard 200. The second and final single, "5 A.M.", released April 1, 2010, was a hit, peaking at #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and certifying 2x Platinum. 2010–present: Follow Up & Follow Up: Part II In early 2010, Minus Eighteen began writing material for a third release, ultimately deciding not to tour for Another EP. A October/November 2010 release date was given for the album. By September, the album was complete, but the release date was pushed back to January 2011. The first single, "Down to Business", was released in December 2010 and debuted at #15 on the Billboard Hot 100 and eventually sold over 500,000 copies in the US alone. Their third album, Follow Up, another sarcastic album title by them, was released on April 21, 2011, and debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200, which was their first album to reach #1 in the United States, selling around 375,000 copies in its first week. Follow Up remained at #1 on the Billboard 200 for ten weeks, selling over 2,750,000 units during that length of time. In June 2011, due to the popularity of "Wasting My Time", Follow Up jumped from #5 on the Billboard 200 back up to #1, selling an estimated 225,000 copies that week. To date, the album has sold over 3,950,000 copies in the US alone. With the popularity of Follow Up, several songs debuted on the Billboard Hot 100, solely due to digital download, including "Classic", which debuted at #103. The second single from the album, "(Not) Meant to Be", released February 1, 2011, was also successful, peaking at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 after a long, four month run. The third single from Follow Up, "Waste My Time", was released May 30, 2011, and debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at #1, selling over 300,000 copies in its first week, becoming not only their first #1 debut but also their first #1. A fourth single, titled "If I Wrote You a Love Song", is set to be released in July 2011, along with a fifth and final single, titled "Classic", planned for release in October/November 2011. Minus Eighteen announced in June 2011 that they would be recording another full-length studio album, tentatively titled Follow Up: Part II, almost back-to-back, through the rest of 2011, and then will go on the extensive Follow Up Tour from 2012–2013. Discography :Main article: Minus Eighteen discography Albums *''minus.eighteen'' (2005) *''Sophomore Release'' (2008) *''Follow Up'' (2011) *''Follow Up: Part II'' (2012) EPs *''EP'' (2006) *''Another EP'' (2009) Lineup Current members *Sean Fullerway — lead vocals, guitar, songwriter (2004–present) *Ryan Deckerman — backing vocals, drums, songwriter (2004–present) Former members *Chris Rivert — bass (2004–2005) *Brent Villeton — lead vocals, bass (2006)